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Queenscliff permit gone

PLANS to build a double-storey development with eight shops and eight dwellings in Queenscliff have come to a halt after the developer sat on the permit for eight years.

It comes as the developer applied to the Borough of Queenscliffe to grant another time extension for the permit, but the request was refused by council at its meeting this week.

Plans for the site were first submitted in 2011, and despite it attracting a number of objections, council supported the proposal. The decision was then challenged at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal which, in 2012, supported the issuing of a permit for the development.

In the eight years since the permit was issued, the expiry date has been extended three times for two-year periods in 2014, 2016 and 2018 — but work has not begun.

In order for the proposal to go ahead at 20-26 Hesse Street, the developer will now need to obtain a new permit.

Cr Boyce Pizzey proposed that the council should consider any new application for development on the site based on the planning scheme applicable at the time of application. The amendment received unanimous support from councillors.

Cr Pizzey said it was important that the council made its position “very clear” on the future of the longstanding matter.

“It’s one of the very important sites in Hesse Street and the historic precinct, and deserves every attention every time it comes back to us,” he said.

A council officer’s report said that while the permit-holder had attempted to market and fund the proposal, they had made “no significant effort” to advance the project through plans and information.

“Given the permit has been long held with little evidence of seeking to act upon its requirements, a further extension is unlikely to facilitate fair and orderly planning outcomes,” the report noted. “The three extensions of time are considered to have provided an adequate time frame for a development.”